Electrical connectors having two principal components are known in the art. Reference may be had, for example, to Abbott U.S. Pat. No. 2,719,957; Walter U.S. Pat. No. 2,159,064 and Duffield U.S. Pat. No. 3,217,286.
The Abbott patent has two pins with sharpened points to make insulation displaced electrical connections with wires positioned in the connector body. These connections are made by pressing the wires onto the pins. A cover is then screwed onto the body to enclose the wires and provide a stress relief function.
In Walter, the electrical wires are received in grooves provided in the upper surface of a base member. Metallic prongs extend upwardly into at least a portion of the body grooves. A cap is then secured to the body with drive shoulders thereon engaging the wires in the grooves to force the same into insulation displaced electrical connections with the metallic prongs extending into the grooves.
The Duffield patent discloses a base member having grooves therein to receive electrical wires. Metal spikes respectively extend into and are exposed within those grooves. A cap is then screwed onto the body to bring a locking bar into engagement with the wires to drive the same into an insulation displaced electrical connection on the spikes.
Electrical connectors have also been developed which employ a wedging principal to obtain an insulation displaced electrical connection. Reference may be had, for example, to Hughes U.S. Pat. No. 4,152,686 and Denkmann U.S. Pat. No. 4,650,269.
The Hughes patent discloses an insulating body having a cavity therein to receive the ends of insulated wires of small diameter. The cavity also receives a terminal assembly including a contact arm and a wedge arm. The wedge arm is moved relative to the contact arm to bend the contact arm toward the wire to clamp the wire between the contact arm and the cavity wall to form an insulation displaced connection.
The Denkmann patent discloses a modular plug connector for a telephone type installation. A metallic terminal is slid into a terminal receiving slot in a dialectric housing. The terminal receiving slot has cam surfaces along the opposite walls thereof to force tangs on the metallic terminal into an insulation displaced connection with the wire in the slot.
Electrical connectors have also been used to provide an electrical connection between the lighting system of a towing vehicle and the lighting system of the towed vehicle. For example, Safford U.S. Pat. No. 2,981,921 discloses connectors for electrically coupling branch wires to insulated current conducting vehicle wires. The branch wires in Safford extend from the vehicle wiring connection, made by the connectors, to the trailer. Safford's connector includes a base member, a cap and a main conductor plate having prongs thereon sandwiched therebetween. The cap is screwed onto the base with a flange thereon forcing the received wire into an insulation displaced electrical connection on those prongs.
Reference may also be had to copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 116,471, filed on Nov. 3, 1987 and assigned to the assignee of the present invention. Such patent application discloses a trailer light connection system including a two part connector having a cap screwed onto a body member to force wires into an insulation displaced connection with exposed terminal pins in grooves on the body.